LUND, Sweden ― Immunoviahas today signed a letter of intent for collaboration with the Danish Center for Strategic Research into Type 2 Diabetes (DD2). The intention is that the DD2 Center will be part of the groundbreaking PanDIA-1 prospective study into new onset Type 2 diabetics over 50 and their associated risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

The study will involve the use of Immunovia’s innovative IMMray™ PanCan -d blood biomarker assay which is designed to offer rapid, accurate diagnosis of early stage pancreatic cancer and thus increase the possibility of successful intervention. DD2 becomes the second member of what will eventually be a global consortium engaging in this challenge and already includes groups in Sweden. For more information about the collaboration in Sweden, see announcement published on 18 December 2017, (http://immunovia.com/news/?id=16479).

New onset diabetic patients is a key risk group for pancreatic cancer and a significant market opportunity for Immunovia. Pioneering Danish DD2 Center now becomes the latest member of the world’s largest study of pancreatic cancer, adding up to 3,500 new onset diabetic patients to Immunovia’s PanDIA-1 prospective study.

Diabetes is the fastest increasing disease worldwide. Cardiovascular and renal complications are well known comorbidities, but pancreatic cancer in new onset diabetics over 50 is now also becoming recognized as a significant risk. Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of any major cancer type and a mortality exceeding breast cancer. It can be curable by successful surgical intervention, but is dependent on early detection. The collaboration with DD2 will both involve a retrospective study on samples already collected over several years, and a prospective study running over 3 years.

“Patients aged over 50 suffering from diabetes are a large group and their risk for developing pancreatic cancer is up to 8-10 times greater than normal, clearly an important clinical unmet need and a tremendous market opportunity. We believe that IMMray™ PanCan -d can provide a valuable tool for health authorities and clinicians in their efforts to tackle the problem. Therefore, we are delighted to enter this collaboration with DD2 who are well-known for their pioneering research into Type 2 diabetes and its complications,” commented Mats Grahn, CEO, Immunovia.

It is the overall goal of the project to normalize metabolism in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients to prevent diabetic complications and improve quality of life.

We want to make the treatment of type 2 diabetes patients research-based - and therefore we should be better at implementing the new research in the daily clinic.

Therefore, DD2 will investigate the following hypotheses:

It is possible through the treatment guideline and structured organization to normalize the risk profile and avoid / reduce diabetic complications through continuous monitoring via Danish health records, in order to gain knowledge about indicators for long-term diabetes complications and thereby to set targets for new interventions.

That a biobank with DNA and plasma, urine and tissue samples for individual characterization of type 2 diabetes patients will improve the prognosis and create a platform for personalized treatment.

That an increased daily physical activity level can be achieved and maintained in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients and that it will improve the CVD prediction especially for cardiovascular disease.

That intensive and structured treatment in accordance with national guidelines and individualized treatment methods is cost-effective.

It is possible through this initiative to build a platform for developing and testing new drugs against diabetes in Denmark.

About Immunovia
Immunovia AB was founded in 2007 by investigators from the Department of Immunotechnology at Lund University and CREATE Health, the Center for Translational Cancer Research in Lund, Sweden. Immunovia’s strategy is to decipher the wealth of information in blood and translate it into clinically useful tools to diagnose complex diseases such as cancer, earlier and more accurately than previously possible. Immunovia´s core technology platform, IMMray™, is based on antibody biomarker microarray analysis. The company is now performing clinical validation studies for the commercialization of IMMray™ PanCan-d that could be the first blood based test for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. In the beginning of 2016, the company started a program focused on autoimmune diseases diagnosis, prognosis and therapy monitoring. The first test from this program, IMMray™ SLE-d, is a biomarker signature derived for differential diagnosis of lupus, now undergoing evaluation and validation. (Source: www.immunovia.com)

Immunovia’s shares (IMMNOV) are listed on Nasdaq First North in Stockholm and Wildeco is the company’s Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit www.immunovia.com.